Lie To me
by Spikes Bint
Summary: Spoilers for Ats 5 finale. Illyria holds Wesley as Fred, one last time. Okay trying not to be too spoilery here!


A/N Set during the AtS series finale "Not fade away" Spoilers for AtS 5 series finale and "A hole in the world"

Pairing: Fred/Illyria/Wesley

Rating: G

Lie to me…now

Wesley stumbled back on unsteady legs, which no longer seemed to be working. Vail lay unconscious at the far side of the room. Wesley smiled, he knew he was dying, but strangely, that thought only brought him peace. He had done his best. No one could have asked more of him. It was all over and nothing else mattered anymore. He felt his legs begin to crumple beneath him and he started to fall, but he did not hit the floor. A strong pair of arms captured him and lowered him to the ground.

The red of his blood stained his hand, but he no longer cared, letting out a little sigh. Illyria looked at his wound dispassionately before looking down at him.

"Wesley…this wound is mortal," she informed him.

They were the most beautiful words he had ever hoped to hear. After all wasn't he already dead inside, ever since…she had gone.

He had told Illyria that he hadn't intended to die that night, but secretly he had wished for it and death had found him. At least in that he was not disappointed. He placed his hand over his stomach, looking back at Illyria.

"Aren't we all?" he smiled at her. Thinking that it was right… this Romeo and Juliet ending, he dying in her arms just as Fred has died in his. "It was good… that you came,"

He couldn't take his eyes from her. The shell, all that was left of the woman he had once loved. She was beautiful to him, and yet terrible. Wesley could feel a coldness seeping into his bones. He shivered slightly, knowing that the blood was fast draining from his veins.

"I killed all mine and I was…"

Wesley smiled at her, understanding her hesitation.

"Concerned?" he asked.

Confusion and realisation were just some of the emotions that flitted across her face at his question. She was slowly starting to feel. He could tell by her face that the knowledge frightened her. **_Maybe there was hope for the smurf after all_** he thought fondly.

"I think so," She admitted "But I can't help, you'll be dead within moments,"

Everything was taking on an almost dreamlike quality. He almost felt as if he were floating, no longer a part of this world. Nothing mattered anymore…Angel, Spike and Gunn, they would do just fine without him.

"I know,"

Illyria searched his face.

"Would you like me to lie to you now?" she asked.

His breath was becoming shallower in his chest, as he held on to the last shreds of his fading existence. The fire in his gut almost blinding him, wanting it to be over, but also to have this chance to enjoy one last moment in the sun. He no longer cares for reality. All he can feel is the arms, her arms, about him.

"Yes…" he closes his eyes, "Thank you…yes,"

Wesley opened his eyes again, to behold the face he knew would never fade from his heart, no matter how many millennia he spent away from it. He would have cried if he had had the strength to form tears. Feeling the touch of her hand on his cheek, no longer the hard skin of Illyria, but the smooth soft touch of her hand. For a moment he could pretend…

"Hello there…"

He watched in fascination as tears welled in her eyes, tears for him and his imminent death. Maybe some of them came from Illyria too…

"Wesley, oh my Wesley," she sobbed, as the tears fell down her cheeks.

It would be soon… he could feel it. Just a few more illicit moments and it would all be over. It was a beautiful delusion, and it was his.

"Fred…I've missed you," he breathed weakly.

Illyria/Fred bent her head towards him, touching her lips with his own. It was not the unpleasant experience that she had expected it to be. Human emotion scared her, but there was something arresting about the contact that touched her. She sobbed again and pressed her lips one more time to his forehead.

She wanted to say the right words, to make his passing easier. She smiled sadly at him as she spoke.

"It's gonna be OK. It won't hurt much longer, and then you'll be where I am. We'll be together,"

Illyria knew she had found the words she had been searching for as she saw the look of contentment spread over his face. She could sense the beat of his heart as it slowed within his chest.

He looked at her once last time, taking his final breath.

"I-I love you,"

She smiled at him, at his sightless eyes. He was gone, but the pain she felt inside was not.

"I love you. My love. Oh, my love," Illyria sobbed. She was still in Fred's form, too affected by this mortal's death to return to her true shape.

Illyria gently lowered him to the floor. She sighed, as the anger inside her mutated into seething hatred. She need to hurt something and soon, but hadn't Wesley taught her that she must not kill, except in the fight against evil? Illyria gritted her teeth and clenched her fists in frustration.

"How touching his meaningless death was, but this fight was never meant for mortals," the voice behind her informed her.

How glad she was that Wesley had not managed to kill Vail, it gave her the chance to do it… Illyria turned to face him. The heaving rage on her face as she looked upon the instrument of Wesley's death.

Vail looked at her, another mortal to easily dispatch, he thought smugly.

"Oh, take your best shot little girl," he smiled smugly in his confidence to destroy her as he had the other.

Illyria pulled back her fist, channelling all her hurt as she morphed back into her true self. Her fist making contact with Vail's head and shattering flesh and bones into a million pieces.

Illyria smiled down at what had once been Vail and she turned to go join the others…if there were any others. The need for bloodshed was still strong in her veins. Illyria paused for a moment at the sight of Wesley's body. Not really knowing why, she knelt down beside him and pressed her lips to his, feeling the coldness of them as she kissed him one more time.

"Goodbye Wesley," she sighed, as she got to her feet and walked off towards her destiny.


End file.
